Man U win to take 7-point lead into '13

Second-place Manchester City held on to beat Norwich 4-3 with 10 men to stay in contention in the defense of its title, while Arsenal hammered Newcastle 7-3 on a final Saturday of 2012 that brought 35 goals in eight matches.

United was more than content with scoring two of them. Gareth McAuley's early own goal and a league-high 14th strike of the campaign by substitute Van Persie in the final minute earned the team a seventh straight home win, leaving City with a mountain to climb to catch its fierce rival.

“We're in a good position. We're halfway there,” United manager Alex Ferguson said.

The reigning champions withstood the first-half dismissal of playmaker Samir Nasri for an apparent headbutt to hold off Norwich, with Edin Dzeko (2) and Sergio Aguero answering manager Roberto Mancini's call for more goals from his strikers.

“Today we showed we are there for the title,” Mancini said.

At Emirates Stadium, Theo Walcott — playing again as a central striker — grabbed a hat trick and substitute Olivier Giroud scored twice in a match that featured eight goals in a riveting second half. It equaled the second highest-scoring game in Premier League history, behind Portsmouth's 7-4 victory over Reading in 2007.

Tottenham came from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1 and move provisionally third — a point ahead of Chelsea, which visits Everton on Sunday. Arsenal is fifth, two points further behind.

Spurs' win wasn't without controversy, though, with winger Gareth Bale booked for diving for the third time this season — and fifth time since the start of last season.

“If people kick me, I'm going to go down,” Bale said in protest, despite going down easily this time when Sunderland defender Craig Gardner put his arm across Bale's chest. “People keep saying I'm diving but it doesn't bother me whatsoever.”

At the other end of the standings, Reading climbed three points clear of last-place Queens Park Rangers by beating West Ham 1-0 thanks to Pavel Pogrebnyak's fifth-minute goal. It was only Reading's second win of the season.

Southampton slipped into relegation zone despite drawing 3-3 at Stoke, which equalized in the last minute through a wondrous goal by Cameron Jerome, because Wigan piled on the misery for Aston Villa by winning 3-0 at Villa Park.

Villa has now conceded 15 goals — and failed to score — in three matches over the festive period to lie just a point and a place above the bottom three.

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